SP president Akhilesh Yadav (File photo)2022 Assembly Elections Highlights: According to a report, Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav will contest Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections from Mainpuri’s Karhal constituency. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Thursday announced that the chief ministerial face and party leader Bhagwant Mann will fight the Punjab Assembly Polls from Dhuri constituency in Sangrur. Bhim Army chief Chandra Shekhar Aazad is set to fight the upcoming Assembly elections from Gorakhpur Sadar, taking on CM Yogi Adityanath.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief Arvind Kejriwal Thursday invited Utpal Parrikar to contest the Goa elections on his party’s ticket, adding that BJP has adopted a “use and throw policy” with the Parrikar family. This comes after the Bharatiya Janata Party denied a ticket to the former CM Manohar Parrikar’s son while declaring a list of 34 candidates.
Meanwhile, Keshav Prasad Maurya, once considered the closest to the chief minister’s chair when he led the state BJP as it swept Uttar Pradesh, cannot be easily overlooked when it comes to the future of the party in the state. The exit of several OBC leaders from its ranks means the BJP needs to keep its tallest leader from the community happy. Our special story looks at The Other Maurya.
BJP National President JP Nadda, Home Minister Amit Shah, UP BJP election in-charge Dharmendra Pradhan, co-incharge Anurag Thakur, UP CM Yogi Adityanath, UP Dy CM's Keshav Prasad Maurya, Dinesh Sharma, UP BJP chief Swatantra Dev Singh with alliance parties leaders Sanjay Kumar Nishad and Anupriya Patel, at BJP HQ in New Delhi, Wednesday, Jan. 19, 2022. (PTI Photo)
Restrictions on physical election rallies appear to have thrown up new star campaigners besides those in the party’s official list. Congress MP Shashi Tharoor does not figure in the star campaigners’ list of his party, but the digital campaign seems to have put him in demand, at least in some states. Earlier this week, Tharoor announced that he would address the people of poll-bound Goa virtually. Soon more than 150 people signed up and his followers on Facebook and YouTube also joined. Tharoor’s 25-minute speech went viral and there were dozens of questions from the viewers as well, which received significant coverage in local newspapers.
Read more in today's Delhi Confidential
Two couples -- the Ranes and Monserrattes -- made it to the first list of candidates announced by the BJP for the Goa Assembly elections on Thursday.
Deputy chief minister Chandrakant Kavlekar's wife Savitri, also a ticket aspirant, did not figure in the list and later announced that she would contest as an independent.
The ruling party announced candidates for 34 out of 40 seats for the February 14 elections in the coastal state.
Atanasio Monserratte and Jeniffer Monserratte, both BJP MLAs at present, have been given tickets. The other `power couple' is health minister Vishwajit Rane and his wife Divya. Divya Rane is new entrant in politics. (PTI)
Trinamool Congress Party (TMC) leader Abhishek Banerjee on Thursday said if Congress could not dislodge the BJP from power in the next month's Goa Assembly elections, Congress' state in-charge P Chidambaram should take the responsibility.
The TMC had approached Chidambaram with a formal offer for pre-poll alliance for the February 14 Goa polls, he told reporters.
"When we arrived here, parties like Congress and AAP raised questions like (if) TMC was trying to divide anti-BJP votes,” said Abhishek, who is TMC's general secretary.
TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee had given a call for like-minded people to forge an alliance, he said. (PTI)
An FIR has been filed against an SP-RLD candidate here for violating the model code of conduct and COVID-19 protocols, officials said on Thursday.
“SP-RLD candidate Babita Devi has violated the model code of elections and Covid-19 by holding a meeting,” additional district magistrate (administration) Vijay Shankar Dubey said.
The public meeting was held in Raya town on Wednesday and about 200 people were present. COVID-19 guidelines were also not adhered to, he said.
Following the announcement of the Assembly poll dates in five states, the model code of conduct came into immediate effect on January 8. According to officials, Devi is the Samajwadi Party-Rashtriya Lok Dal candidate from Baldeo reserve constituency. (PTI)
Elvis Gomes will be the Congress candidate for capital city Panaji. He will take on BJP’s Babush Monserrate and AAP’s Valmiki Naik among other candidates. Elvis, was earlier AAP’s Goa Convenor before he quit the party following the 2019 Lok Sabha elections where he was the South Goa candidate.
The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) on Thursday released a list of 14 candidates for the February 20 Punjab assembly polls. The Mayawati-led party has tied up with the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) for the Punjab assembly elections.
According to the seat-sharing arrangement between the two parties, the BSP will field candidates in 20 of the 117 Assembly seats in Punjab, while the rest will be contested by the SAD.
According to the list of candidates released by the party, Punjab BSP chief Jasvir Singh Garhi will contest from Phagwara seat.
Nachattar Pal will fight from Nawanshahr, Jaspreet Singh from Payal, Rakesh Mahasha from Bhoa, Jyoti Bhim from Pathankot and Kamaljit Chawla from Dina Nagar. (PTI)
Leader of the Congress in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury on Thursday hit out at the TMC, alleging that the party was trying to “divide anti-BJP votes” in states, and its claims of organising a united front against the saffron camp was nothing short of a “well-scripted drama”.
Chowdhury also said that the Bengal's ruling party, in a tacit understanding with the BJP, was trying to 'finish off' the Congress. The TMC recently announced its first list of candidates for Goa Assembly polls, scheduled next month.
The Mamata Banerjee-led camp is fighting the elections to the 40-member Goa Assembly in alliance with Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP). 'The TMC's main role is to fracture non-BJP votes in Goa. The TMC, using money power, has bought a few leaders. In a tacit understanding with the BJP, it is trying to hurt the prospects of the Congress and that is a proven fact. (PTI)
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) national president JP Nadda will visit Uttar Pradesh tomorrow. He will hold meetings with party officials in Agra and a door-to-door campaign in Bareilly, news agency ANI reported.
A Congress delegation on Thursday met the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) virtually over the "politically motivated raids by ED to defame the CM & incumbent Congress Govt in Punjab," news agency ANI reported. The delegation comprised of Randeep Surjewala, Abhishek Manu Singhvi, Harish Chaudhary, Devender Yadav, Ganesh Godiyal, Pranav Jha, Aman Panwar and others.
The delegation reminded the CEC about the Model Code of Conduct violations by the Uttarakhand Government for back-dating and tampering of Government records as also Representation of Peoples Act, 1951, in the state.
Punjab's Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar district will have six women-managed pink polling booths during the Assembly polls next month, an initiative that aims at encouraging their participation in the election process.
According to an official statement, Deputy Commissioner Vishesh Sarangal said each of three Assembly segments will have two such booths.
These will be exclusively managed by women teams during the polling on February 20, he said. The entire staff at such polling booths, including security personnel, will be women, he added.
The DC said the polling booths will have pink walls and table covers. The initiative aims at catering to women voters and encourage them to vote, the statement said. (PTI)
Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav will contest the Uttar Pradesh election from the Karhal constituency in Mainpuri district, his first assembly poll as a candidate.
"The party president will contest from Karhal seat of Mainpuri," SP national spokesperson Ashutosh Verma told PTI Thursday. Yadav, who is an MP from Azamgarh seat, had said on Wednesday that he would decide on contesting the Uttar Pradesh polls after talking to the people of his parliamentary constituency.
The Samajwadi Party's Mainpuri district unit Thursday gave a written request to the party chief to contest from the Karhal seat and he agreed, sources said. Mainpuri has traditionally been a Samajwadi Party stronghold. SP founder Mulayam Singh Yadav represents the Mainpuri constituency in parliament. (PTI)
Goa Chief Minister Dr Pramod Sawant slammed Arvind Kejriwal after the Aam Aadmi Party National Convenor invited Utpal Parrikar to join his party. Parrikar, son of former defence minister Manohar Parrikar, was denied a ticket from capital Panaji.
"Hypocrisy! Person whose entire party and politics is based on shallow opportunism should brush up his memory and remind himself of his own filthy comments used against one of the greatest leaders Shri Manohar Bhai Parrikar,” Sawant tweeted.
The CM also attached an article with the tweet, which highlighted Kejriwal criticising Manohar Parrikar.
Samajwadi Party on Thursday expelled former minister in the state cabinet Uma Kiran for six years for “anti-party” activities. The development was announced by SP district president Pramod Tyagi.
Tyagi also said anti-party activities will not be tolerated. Uma Kiran was allegedly demanding party ticket from Purkazi seat and was miffed at not being given it.
She was given a ticket from the seat by Azad Samaj Party (K) led by Chandra Shekhar Aazad and was also seen in a press conference with him. (PTI)
Failed to get a Congress ticket, a party worker who came to file her nomination as an independent candidate from Bulandshahr Sadar seat couldn't hide her disappointment and broke down in tears.
Geeta Rani Sharma shared her grief with media and said her father, who was associated with Congress for 30 years, gave his all to the party. She said she took a large number of women to the Priyanka Gandhi Vadra's rally in Anoopshahr but her work was not recognized.
Sharma suggested that party tickets should be given on the basis of a survey of who's done what. She also named another party worker in Sikandarabad, who too, she said, did not get a ticket despite his diligence towards party work. Having decided to fight independent, Sharma said now she does not want any political party's support. “I want to show Didi that I am a girl and I can fight,” she said, referring to the Congress slogan for the UP polls. (PTI)
RS Nautiyal, father of famous singer Jubin Nautiyal gets a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ticket from Chakrata, Uttarakhand for the upcoming assembly elections.
Goa appears set for a multi-cornered contest where a fractured opposition is attempting to overthrow the BJP, which has been in power in the coastal state for the past 10 years.
A look at the previous election results shows that the BJP had polled the maximum votes - 32.48 per cent - to emerge victorious on 13 seats in the 40-member assembly, while the Congress had garnered 28.35 per cent votes and won 17 seats.
In percentage terms, Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) had polled 11.27 per cent votes and managed to win three seats, while 58 Independent candidates had together garnered 11.12 per cent votes and three had emerged victorious. (PTI)
With Goa headed for a multi-corner contest, the BJP on Thursday said it banks on the “stability and development” plank and the “credibility” of its leaders in the coastal state, as it released its candidate list in 34 of the 40 constituencies, report Liz Mathew and Mayura Janwalkar
Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, who has been elected twice from Sanquelim, is set to contest his seat for the third time. The BJP has chosen 11 OBC candidates, nine Christians and two women for the Goa assembly elections on February 14. The party has, however, denied a ticket from Panaji to Utpal Parrikar, son of late defence minister and former Goa chief minister Manohar Parrikar, and has chosen Atanasio Monserrate, the sitting MLA. (Read more)
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Thursday announced that the chief ministerial face and party leader Bhagwant Mann will fight the Punjab Assembly Polls from Dhuri constituency in Sangrur. (Read more)
Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav on Thursday held a press conference to discuss the party's manifesto. During the announcement of the main points from the manifesto, which will be released later, Yadav said he will bring back the pension plan scheme in the state. Highlighting the process of how the pension scheme works, the SP chief said it’s possible for the plan to be reimplemented.
The BJP announced candidates for 59 of the 70 seats for the upcoming Uttarakhand Assembly elections.
CM Pushkar Singh Dhami will contest the elections from Khatima, while BJP president Madan Kaushik will fight from Haridwar.
Reacting to the BJP's list of 34 candidates for the upcoming polls in Goa, AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal tweeted Thursday, "Goans feel (very) sad that BJP has adopted use and throw policy even with Parrikar family. I have always respected Manohar Parrikar ji. Utpal ji is welcome to join and fight elections on AAP ticket."
Earlier, BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis said that talks are on with Utpal for an alternative seat from where he could contest the elections.
India’s smallest state Goa was liberated from the Portuguese rule in 1961. Its colonial past differs from the rest of India and so does its unique identity and political environment. Goa transitioned from a Union Territory (UT) to become a full state in 1987. With the last six decades of its electoral history marked by volatility and defections, the people of Goa seem to have grown as accustomed to political instability and uncertainty as they have been to tourists on rented two-wheelers on the streets of the coastal state.
Its politics has been defined by precarious governments, varying spells of President’s rule, alternating dispensations, and shifting alignments and re-alignments. Goa has already had 16 Chief Ministers, with many doing two or more stints and some holding the office for barely a month or even less. -- Mayura Janwalkar traces the history of Goa's politics. Read here
"I have joined the BJP for a better platform for social service...I was constantly working in Congress. Contrary to their slogan 'Ladki Hoon, Lad Sakti Hoon', I wasn't given the chance to fight," said Priyanka Maurya who joined the BJP Thursday, ahead of the UP polls. (ANI)
Speaking at the press conference announcing 34 candidates for Goa Assembly polls, BJP's National General Secretary Arun Singh on Thursday said, "BJP is a party that stands for Dalits, tribals. In Goa, BJP has given tickets to three STs and one SC in general seats. These communities see PM Modi as messiah." -- Liz Mathew reports
Announcing the candidates for 34 seats in Goa for the upcoming Assembly polls, BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis on Thursday said that the incumbent MLA in Panjim (Panaji) has been given a ticket.
Former CM Manohar Parrikar's son Utpal had earlier expressed his wish to fight the elections from Panaji as well.
Fadnavis said, "We have given him (Utpal) two alternatives. He has already refused one. Talks are on with him for the second alternative. We feel he should agree."
Divya Rane, the wife of Health Minister Vishwajit Rane, has been declared BJP's candidate from Poriem seat. She may face Congress veteran, former chief minisiter and her father-in-law Pratap Singh Rane in the election. Senior Rane is still undecided on contesting the election, The Indian Express' Mayura Janwalkar reports.
The Bharatiya Janata Party in Goa, meanwhile, declared 34 candidates on Thursday. However, former CM Manohar Parrikar’s son Utpal hasn’t been named.
Incumbent MLA Atanasio Monserrate will contest the elections from Panaji, while CM Pramod Sawant will fight from Sanquelim.
Former SP MLA Pramod Gupta and former Congress leader Priyanka Maurya joined the BJP on Thursday.
On Wednesday, Gupta said, "Akhilesh Yadav has imprisoned Mulayam Singh Yadav and his position is very bad in the party...criminals and gamblers have been inducted into Samajwadi Party," according to ANI.
On the day Congress declared its second list of 41 candidates for the upcoming Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls, Raebareli Sadar MLA Aditi Singh resigned from the party.
The Congress on Thursday declared its second list of 41 candidates for the upcoming Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls. Of these, 16 are women.
Last week, the party’s first list of 125 candidates had 40 per cent women candidates — numbering 50 nominees in this list. Among the women were the mother of the Unnao rape survivor, an ASHA worker who was roughed up by police, a former SP leader who was attacked during the panchayat elections and a social activist and Congress leader who was jailed during the anti-CAA protests.
One and a half years after more than 100 people died in Majha region after consuming spurious liquor, averting such tragedies, it seems, is not on the agenda of the political parties fighting pitched battles to secure power in Punjab.
On Monday, Gurpal Dhotia, the brother of self-styled godman and 2020 hooch tragedy case accused Rashpal Dhotian, joined Akali Dal. While Rashpal is on the run, Gurpal, an accused in the hooch smuggling case, is currently out on bail.
Incidentally, most of the victims of the tragedy were from the Dalit community. Considering that the Assembly election date in Punjab has been rescheduled from February 14 to February 20, keeping in mind the sentiments of community, political experts now question the silence of the political parties over the tragedy. Read more
Neither Sri Lankan singer Yohani nor Chhattisgarh child artiste Sahdev Dirdo will vote in the upcoming Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections. But the BJP government in the state is hoping they can influence other people to vote in its favour, by setting its campaign songs to the tune of Manike Mage Hithe and Bachpan Ka Pyar, the two viral hits of last year.
Here's an example:
The BJP videos reiterate that this is a ‘Modi-Yogi’ government, while in SP songs, it is party chief Akhilesh Yadav all the way. Visibly Muslim faces are entirely missing from the BJP’s videos, while in Congress and SP songs, they make blink-and-miss appearances. Read the full report by Yashee here
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) will announce the constituency from where its chief ministerial candidate Bhagwant Mann will contest the Punjab elections at 3 pm today (Thursday).
Stay tuned!
BJP's Leader of the Opposition in the Bengal assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, reacting to an announcement that TMC leader Mamata Banerjee would campaign for Akhilesh Yadav as part of a show of Opposition unity in Uttar Pradesh, which is going to the polls in February-March, claimed on Wednesday that the "'Sanatan Hindu community' would reject the chief minister given her appeasement politics for one community in Bengal."
"Her campaign in UP will do more harm than good for SP," the former aide to Banerjee claimed.
Reacting to Adhikari's statement, TMC state spokesman Kunal Ghosh said, "Whatever Suvendu has become today, in his political career and as a former minister, he owes to Mamata Banerjee ...However, he doesn't have (any sense of) gratitude". (PTI)
The Sanyukt Samaj Morcha, a political front of farmer unions, on Wednesday evening released another list of 17 candidates for next month's Punjab Assembly polls. Prem Singh Bhangu said the SSM has announced 57 candidates so far and the rest will be announced in the next two or three days.
According to the list of candidates, Harpreet Singh will contest from Dharamkot, Meghraj Ralla from Zira, Krishan Chauhan from Budhlada, Gurditta Singh from Nihal Singh Wala, Navjot Singh Saini from from Dera Bassi , Satwant Singh from Lehragaga, Harvinder Singh from Rajpura and Principal Gurnam Kaur from Baba Bakala.
Jasbir Singh Brar will fight from Talwandi Sabo, Amarjit Singh Aasal from Amritsar West, Davinder Singh from Roopnagar, Apar Singh Randhawa from Amritsar East, Dharmender from Patiala Rural, Mandeep Singh Sarpanch from Nakodar, Thekedar Bhagwan Dass Sidhu from Sham Chaurasi, Jagjit Singh Kalanaur from Dera Baba Nanak and Master Daljit Singh from Khemkaran. (PTI)
The Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal is scheduled to begin his two-day visit to Chandigarh on Thursday. His visit comes days after the party announced Bhagwant Mann as its chief ministerial candidate for the upcoming Punjab Assembly polls.
India registered a sharp rise in Covid-19 cases after 3,17,532 infections were recorded in the last 24 hours compared to 2,82,970 infections on Wednesday. Daily and weekly positivity rates are also up at 16.41 per cent and 16.06 per cent respectively.
Follow the latest news on Covid-19 here
A religious preacher, a former village sarpanch and a former youth leader of Aam Aadmi Party are among nine candidates whose names were released Wednesday by Gurnam Singh Chaduni-led Samyukt Sangharsh Party (SSP) for the February 20 Punjab Assembly elections.
Releasing the list in Chandigarh, Chaduni said they will declare the candidate for one more seat. The SSP is contesting 10 seats in alliance with another farmer leader Balbir Singh Rajewal-led Samyukt Samaj Morcha (SSM).
As per the list, Harpreet Singh Makhu (40), a religious preacher, will contest from Dakha constituency of Ludhiana district. Makhu told The Indian Express that he has been a reporter of a UK-based Punjabi channel also. Read more
BJP MLA Wilfred Dsa on Wednesday resigned from his post and the party, stating that he will contest the upcoming Goa Assembly elections as an independent. Dsa had won the Nuvem seat on a Congress ticket in 2017 but he had defected to the BJP in 2019 with nine other Congress MLAs.
He is the fifth BJP MLA to resign from the party ahead of the assembly polls on February 14.
Meanwhile, Filipe Nery Rodrigues, Goa’s Water Resources Development Minister, has deferred his decision to resign. Read more
The exit of sister-in-law Aparna Yadav from the Samajwadi Party fold Wednesday may actually fit in well with party chief Akhilesh Yadav’s plans. Party insiders said the SP didn’t make any special effort to hold back the 32-year-old, as Akhilesh tries to reduce the family’s footprint in the party which he is leading into elections almost single handedly for the first time.
Patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav is ailing and virtually a non-presence in this election, bar the few times he dropped in recently to address party workers. More striking is the absence of others, such as Mulayam’s cousin Ram Gopal Yadav, who had sided with Akhilesh during the family feud earlier.
Neither was present when Akhilesh held a series of rallies to announce alliances with smaller parties, or to welcome tall leaders from other parties. Ram Gopal is rarely seen even at the SP state headquarters. After a long gap, the SP general secretary was last seen with Akhilesh at an event in Gonda on January 7 to unveil the statue of former minister Pandit Singh. Read more
Good morning and welcome to our Assembly Elections 2022 live blog. Here's a rundown of all that happened on Wednesday:
UP
The BJP on Wednesday brought in its allies Apna Dal and Nirbal Indian Shoshit Hamara Aam Dal (Nishad Party), both representing backward communities, to announce a joint fight in Uttar Pradesh and to highlight the initiatives taken by the party governments at the Centre and the state for the communities.
Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav’s younger daughter-in-law Aparna Yadav joined the BJP.
Punjab
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Wednesday launched a sharp attack on Punjab Chief Minister, Charanjit Singh Channi, and questioned how his relatives had amassed crores that had been detected by the Enforcement Directorate during its raids against sand mining mafia.
Goa
AAP declared a social activist and lawyer Amit Palekar as its chief ministerial face for the 14 February Goa Assembly elections. A new entrant to politics, Palekar, 45, will be contesting the polls for the first time on AAP ticket from the St Cruz Assembly constituency in North Goa.
The Gujarat BJP has sent a 165-member contingent to Uttar Pradesh to give a leg-up to the campaign being undertaken by the UP party leaders and workers in the run-up to the high-stakes Assembly polls.
The BJP’s Gujarat team, comprising of state unit office-bearers and former MLAs and MPs, is tasked with managing the campaign’s backroom operations, mainly related to the door-to-door canvassing and micro-management of booths, which has now become crucial given the Election Commission’s continuing ban on public rallies and roadshows amid the raging third wave of the Covid pandemic. Read More
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Wednesday launched a sharp attack on Punjab Chief Minister, Charanjit Singh Channi, and questioned how his relatives had amassed crores that had been detected by the Enforcement Directorate during its raids against sand mining mafia.
Addressing a press conference on Wednesday, Raghav Chadha, AAP co-in-charge in Punjab said, “When Channi earned so much in 111 days, imagine how much he would have earned if he had been the Chief Minister for five years.” Read More
Three-time MLA Aleixo Reginaldo Lourenco, who resigned from the Congress last month to join the Trinamool Congress only to leave the party 20 days later, will contest the upcoming assembly polls in Goa as an independent candidate. The Congress, in its fifth list issued on Wednesday, declared an election candidate from Curtorim, the seat from which Lourenco has won thrice on the party’s ticket.
The Central Election Committee of the Congress issued its fifth list of election candidates for the upcoming assembly election scheduled to be held on February 14, declaring Moreno Rebello as its candidate from Curtorim in South Goa. Read More
The exit of sister-in-law Aparna Yadav from the Samajwadi Party fold Wednesday may actually fit in well with party chief Akhilesh Yadav’s plans. Party insiders said the SP didn’t make any special effort to hold back the 32-year-old, as Akhilesh tries to reduce the family’s footprint in the party which he is leading into elections almost single handedly for the first time.
Patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav is ailing and virtually a non-presence in this election, bar the few times he dropped in recently to address party workers. More striking is the absence of others, such as Mulayam’s cousin Ram Gopal Yadav, who had sided with Akhilesh during the family feud earlier. Read More
With the arrest of the Samajwadi Party candidate for Kairana, Nahid Hasan, a day after he filed his nomination papers, the mantle of a long-running political feud here has fallen on women members of two families.
Standing in for Nahid, a two-time Kairana MLA, is his sister Iqra Hasan, a 27-year-old law graduate from Europe, who says she is ready to take up any responsibility, including as a replacement for her brother. In the other corner is Mriganka Singh, the eldest of four daughters of late BJP leader and three-term Kairana MLA Hukum Singh. Read More
Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi on Wednesday said the Enforcement Directorate (ED) action on his nephew Bhupinder Singh Honey over a 2018 sand mining case was a ‘conspiracy’ by the Centre to stop the Congress from contesting the assembly elections and that his cabinet ministers were being threatened.
Flanked by Deputy Chief Minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa and ministers Tripat Rajinder Singh Bajwa, Brahm Mohindra, Sukhbinder Sarkaria, Channi told the media: “What I have heard is that they wanted to arrest me last night. The courts were kept open till 6 am (because) I will be arrested. My nephew was tortured to bring my name into the case. But when it did not happen then they asked the court to close. I have not met my nephew. We do not even know where he is now. I have been told that those who interrogated him told him that they would not allow us to contest elections.” Read More
West Bengal Leader of Opposition and BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari on Wednesday said, "any party Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee campaigns will lose". "I don't know how much Samajwadi Party will benefit from CM Mamata Banerjee's support, as her political image is against 'sanatani'," he added.
Vijay Rawat, brother of India's first Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat who recently died in a helicopter crash, joined the BJP on Wednesday. The BJP may field him as its candidate in poll-bound Uttarakhand, news agency PTI said in a report. Vijay Rawat, who retired as a colonel from the army, joined the BJP in the presence of Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami and Rajya Sabha MP Anil Baluni.
Noting that his father, also a former army officer, was associated with the BJP, Rawat expressed happiness at working for the party and lavished praise on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying he has a unique vision and mindset. He thinks out of the box and all his efforts are directed towards the country's betterment, Rawat said.
Congress on Wednesday issued a new list of five candidates for the Goa Assembly elections.
BJP chief JP Nadda on Wednesday announced that his party will contest all 403 seats in Uttar Pradesh along with its allies Apna Dal and Nishad Party. The decision was announced after the BJP CEC meeting held in Delhi in which Union Ministers Amit Shah, Anurag Thakur, UP CM Yogi Adityanth, Nadda and other leaders attended.
Union Minister Anurag Thakur, on Wednesday, reacting to former UP CM Mulayam Yadav's daughter-in-law Aparna Yadav joining BJP, said the move shows how Yogi Adityanath government in UP has provided protection to daughters. He further added, "Aparna Yadav and Sanghmitra Maurya feel safe in BJP".
Former Uttarakhand chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawat has written to BJP chief JP Nadda to be excused from contesting. "Please accept my request to not contest in Uttarakhand polls so that I focus on supporting the party (in upcoming polls)," he wrote.
Reacting to SP chief and former CM Akhilesh Yadav's relative Aparna Yadav joining BJP, UP CM Yogi Adityanath said, “We hope that Aparna Yadav will strengthen BJP with her work”. He added that Aparna Yadav liked BJP's 'double engine work' and PM Modi's vision. 'We welcome her in the the party,' he further said.
Speaking to ANI, Adityanath also said, “The Samajwadi Party has given tickets to criminals...be it Kairana, Bulandshahar (or other regions)...this shows their criminals mentality.... They want to bring in 'Maafiavad' in the state once again. One thing is clear that 'Samajwadi Party is on the back foot' after releasing their first list. Now they are apprehensive over releasing the second list”.
BJP on Wednesday released a list of star campaigners for upcoming Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections. While the list included 30 names including that of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and party chief JP Nadda, mother-son duo and BJP MPs Maneka Gandhi and Varun Gandhi were excluded, news agency ANI reported.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Wednesday welcomed former UP CM's Mulayam Singh Yadav’s daughter-in-law Aparna Yadav to BJP. Taking to Twitter, Adityanath shared a picture along with Yadav and said, "Welcome Aparna ji to the BJP family..."
The Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD), which is fighting the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections in a tie-up with the Samajwadi Party (SP), on Wednesday changed its candidate for the Chhaprauli seat in Baghpat district. The RLD has announced Ajay Kumar's candidature from Chhaprauli and Saurabh, who goes by single name, from Muzaffarnagar, the party said on Twitter.
On January 17, the RLD had announced Vijay Pal Rathi as its candidate for the Chhaprauli seat.The reason for the change in candidature was not known immediately, news agency PTI reported.
Congratulating Amit Palekar on being named the AAP's CM candidate in Goa, Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal said: "I am sure you will work hard to fulfill the dream of every Goan and give a corruption free government to the people of Goa."
Reacting to the news of Mulayam Singh Yadav's daughter-in-law Aparna Yadav joining the BJP on Wednesday, SP Chief Akhilesh Yadav said the party patriarch tried to convince her against switching to the saffron party.
"First of all, I will congratulate her and I am happy that the Samajwadi Party's ideology is expanding," he said.
Promising a "corruption-free" Goa, AAP's CM candidate Amit Palekar said he would work towards bringing back the coastal state's "lost glory". "I will keep every word that I have said and that is my guaranty," he told ANI.